PSYCHOLOGY of the MANDALA part VI
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Creating Mandalas
The mandalas you create may take strange and wonderful forms. They may be circular gardens, arrangements of stones, colorful designs of flowers from the garden, lines traced in sand at the beach, elk hide stretched to make a drum, or mandalas created by your circular motions as you stir rich soup on a winter afternoon. You may dream mandalas, as well, in the form of abstract designs, or in dream activities such as sitting around a table with a group of people, or circling a mountain on a dream pilgrimage.
There is no need to wait until moments of stress to enjoy and benefit from creating mandalas. You can nurture the dialogue between your ego and the Self by making time to create and color mandalas. Mandalas carry information between conscious and unconscious, between ego and Self. The language is symbolic. It takes some patience to learn this language, but once you know it, you can align your conscious choices with the natural wisdom of the Self.
Conclusion
The mandala is a symbol and an instrument of natural energy within you that both gives you stability and pulls you beyond yourself to become more whole, more completely who you really are. The mandalas you create symbolize you: your body, your psychological state, and your place in the world. Mandalas also contain within their circular form the essence of the universe, the seasons, and cycles of nature. Mandalas translate the vast mysteries of human life to a scale that can be apprehended. May you come to experience mandalas as a source of healing and wholeness in your life.
Psychology of the Mandala Bibliography
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Edinger, Edward F. (1987). Ego and Archetype. New York: Viking Penguin.
Fantz, R.L., & Miranda, S.B. (1975). Newborn infant attention to form and contour. Child Development, 46, 224-228.
Fincher, Susanne F. (1991). Creating Mandalas: For Insight, Healing, and Self-Expression. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications.
Gibson, James J. (1986). The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Goren, C.G., Sarty, M., & Wu, P.Y.K. (1975). Visual following and pattern discrimination of face-like stimuli by new-born infants. Pediatrics, 56: 544-549.
Haith, M.M, Bergman, T., & Moore, J.J. (1977). Eye contact and face scanning in early infancy. Science, 198: 853-855.
Horowitz, Mardi Jon. 1983. Image Formation and Psychotherapy. New York and London: Jason Aronson, Inc.
Jung, C.G. (1965). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Ed. Aniela Jaffe. Trans. Richard and Clara Winston. New York: Random House.
_____ (1973). Mandala Symbolism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kagan, Jerome. (1981). The Second Year: The Emergence of Self- Awareness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kellogg, Rhoda. (1967). Psychology of Children’s Art. CRM, Inc.
Kohler, Wolfgang. (1992). Gestalt Psychology: An Introduction to New Concepts in Modern Psychology. New York: Liveright.
Slater, Alan. (1997). Visual perception and its organization in early infancy. In Bremner, Gavin, Slater, Alan, & Butterworth, George (eds.). Infant Development: Recent Advances. Hove, East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press. pp. 31-51.
Tucci, Guissepe. (1961). Theory and Practice of the Mandala. London: Rider and Company.
Wertheimer, Max. 1959. Productive Thinking. New York: Harper.